Coates would be a brilliant signing for West Brom

West Brom are targeting Liverpool’s Sebastian Coates to sure up their defence, how can he help them?

The recent speculation surrounding the future of Jonas Olsson at West Brom seems to have automatically triggered the club into preparing for his departure to QPR.

If the national papers are to be believed, Uruguayan centre back Sebastian Coates from Liverpool is the man Steve Clarke is singling out to fill the void that would be left by Olsson leaving.

It could be a very good move for the player and the club because Coates is the strong, heavy presence type of defender that could make a difference to West Brom.

He’s also likely to be openly available with West Brom hoping for a loan deal until the end of the season, with a chance to make that switch permanent based on how Coates does at the club.

It’s a very shrewd move by Steve Clarke because defensively, West Brom have been up and down.

At home, no other side has conceded fewer goals as West Brom hold the joint best home record with Manchester City. Away from home, it’s a different story because no other side in the top 11 has conceded more goals on the road.

Coates would undoubtedly give West Brom a much better chance of dealing with sides that pose a constant aerial threat.

He is superb from corners and set pieces when the opposition whip the ball into West Brom’s penalty area and pile on the pressure. His strength and height alone would help in this respect.

West Brom fans also need to bear in mind that Coates has been training under Brendan Rodgers this season, a manager who likes his teams to pass the ball out from the back four.

This ensures that Coates is good on the ball, technically good enough to get the ball forward quickly and used to the pressure of strikers bearing down on top of him.

He’s also available as he’s not a first choice defender at Liverpool which means a deal can come together very quickly if West Brom want to try and make it happen.

The arrival of Coates may also trigger the release of younger and more inexperienced West Brom players on loan deals to football league sides which will enable them to gain more experience.

Lewis Doe

Lewis Doe is a freelance writer and editor who seeks to bring you the biggest, smallest and most interesting stories from the football world. Lewis has previously written for some of the biggest football news and opinion sites in the world including FootballFanCast and Goal.com International. Lewis is also experienced writing in the betting industry and aims to deliver his stories with up to date factual and statistical information. He hopes to sum up stories for the site and provide an angle on the issue moving forward.Lewis is HITC Sport's La Liga correspondent.